below: Peering through the window at the remains of Yuk Wing cleaners on Gerrard St. East

below: Sometimes you can’t look in the window – something is in the way! It wasn’t until I was looking at the picture on my computer that I noticed that the newspaper is in a language that I don’t understand. I typed the headline to the left of the heart into google translate, “Niemiecka chemia zapanuje nad swiatem” and it told me that the words were Polish and translate to “German chemistry will dominate the world”. The article is about the purchase of Monsanto by Bayer.

below: A portion of the black cowboy silhouette remains in the now empty Tortilla Flats restaurant.

below: The effects of morning light shining into the Thai Luna restaurant.

below: More morning sunlight, this time it leaves traces of fried chicken.

This year’s Nuit Blanche was on September 28th and 29th. The night’s activities were spread over a large number of locations around the city. That was a few days ago so yes, I am a bit behind. I was laid low for a couple of days with this cold that’s been going around… or I took a few days to recover from being up until 3:30 a.m.!

below: Part of ‘Continuum: Pushing Towards the Light’ by Brandy Leary and the Anandam Dancetheatre. They made they way across the glass enclosed bridge over Queen Street between the Eaton Centre and The Bay store.

below: More from the same installation, this time from the “right” side. It was great for making shadow figures. Thanks to Jude for starting off the evening with me… and getting creative (silly?) too.

below: We found a photo shoot on Bay Street.

below: On Bloor Street, nothing to do with Nuit Blanche but it looked cool. Reflections and lights.

below: Eaton Centre, a quieter moment that night.

below: Checking the map. Yonge Dundas Square – the installation there was very unimpressive so I took people pics instead.

below: At Church of the Redeemer (Avenue Road and Bloor), Korean Dancers. “Star Moon Water Stone” by Ensemble Jeng Yi

below: Drummers, same venue as above.

below: ‘This Storm is You’ at the Ontario Science Centre, an installation by Zahra Saleki. Photography on the walls and stories on the floor.

below: Walk among the stories. “Every story deserves to be lit. Grab a sharpie and write yours.”

below: Smile!.. and a testament to the start of love. Two of many lit stories.

below: Saleki’s photos displayed here are abstract dance photographs in black and white. Negative images and slowing the camera to produce the blur of motion.

below: This is what you saw when you first got off the subway (is the SRT a subway?) at Scarborough Town Centre. It’s part of the ‘The Things They Carried’ Babel series. The motifs are similar to those on the installation at Yonge -Dundas Square, that oops, I don’t have a picture of.

below: At Scarborough Civic Centre, ‘Everything I Wanted to Tell You’ by Hiba Abdallah. A series of words in lights projected onto several buildings. The words changed every few seconds to tell a story or two.

below: More of the words. “People hold on so tightly to a specific narrative of this place”.

below: More projections at Scarborough Civic Centre. Sorry, not sure which installation this is.

below: Scarborough Town Centre (mall) had a mountain of inflatable globes you could walk under, or just look at. ‘Walk Among Worlds’ by Maximo Gonzalez

below: Weaving stories, ‘Interlacing’ by Community Arts Guild, at Scarborough Town Centre.

The summer of the heat continues into August. It’s still hot and humid. But it was also the long August weekend, Simcoe Day or something like that, so there was lots happening around the city.

I went searching for breezes and I walked on the shady side of the street as much as possible, often as the drops of sweat ran down my back. A few stops in air conditioned stores (indoor window shopping) and a cold drink break or two made the days bearable. It helped that, as usual, there was lots to see!

below: Be curious … and stay curious.

below: Jumping skate boarders at Dundas and Bathurst

below: Casimir Street mural on Dundas (near Bathurst)

below: Sitting by the pool

below: A shady spot for reading.

below: A front yard full of tall yellow flowers

below: Not everyone has a green thumb. A rose is still a rose even in death.

below: Sitting in the painted window, Graffiti Alley. It looked like they were filming a music video. I’m not too sure what they thought of me (I didn’t think that I was disturbing them, long lens used).

below: A quiet spot for a cigarette.

below: Red hot.

below: An old mattress and head board lean against the side of a house. Great juxtaposition here as the mural is called ‘Lust’

below: Jelly window on Queen West – What is a modern doughnut? Especially one spelled the old fashioned way? The store was closed, so it’s still a mystery. Beautiful painting on the door.

below: Cycling in the jungle. I say ‘jungle’ because I see the lion and think “King of the jungle” but lions don’t live in the jungle so maybe I need to rethink that caption. Cyclist as prey? Bikes on safari?

below: Prince is now at Kensington Market. A purple Prince.

below: Graffiti in Kensington. Frowning while watching them fight. Little black figures with rifles. Are they angels that are shooting back or devils?

below: Reflections and lots of stuff including the painted lady in the House of Energy, Augusta Avenue. Life.

below: Death. How many skulls in the window?

below: Lots of smiles

I’ll be smiling more once the temperatures cool. I think that it’s been hot long enough that I can complain about it – perhaps even long for winter? How Canadian of me! In the meantime, as long as there is shade I’ll keep walking (and sweating!).

For a number of reasons, I started walking late yesterday.
It was overcast and the the light was flat.

There were a few people sitting around and/or hanging out – on their phones, alone with their thoughts, meeting with friends, or just passing by.

Catching moments and freezing them in time – is that what photography is? To call the images random would be farfetched. They are edited starting from the first decisions such as where to aim the camera and at what moment do I take the picture. But they are candid in that the people are unaware, unposed, and to me, more natural. These women are just hanging out outside the Eaton Centre, together, yet separate. Are they waiting for someone? What is the woman on far left reacting to?

As I mentioned above, the light was flat. It was a grey afternoon and that is always a challenge. As the day becomes darker, the ambient light provide by windows increases.

below: Is it my imagination or is her neck longer than most? I don’t think that I’d be able to wear four leather rings around my neck even if I wanted to.

As I was processing some of my photos, I got to thinking about my grandmother. I remember driving with her at dusk and into the early night. She would get excited about being able to look into people’s windows after they’d turned on their lights but before they’d closed their curtains. We could only get a quick glimpse as we passed by – were there pictures on the wall? What was on TV? What were the people doing? But even that was enough to spark our imaginations and we would create stories about the possible lives of the people in those houses.

below: Talking at the bar

below: Sitting at Timmies

Night windows offer a different view. Things that are hidden during the day become visible.

below: Interior renovations in progress

below: The mundane and austere railing and fluorescent light in the stone bank building caught my attention. As I was lining up the shot I noticed the woman (who had obviously noticed me first).

And then it started to rain. My feet were getting wet and my umbrella wasn’t big enough so I called it quits and went home.

This is part of my ‘end of the year clean up and sort through photos’ process that I start most years at this time – I don’t always finish but that’s a whole other story. One of the drafts that I found this morning was this post which I was in the midst of writing when the fan on my laptop died. The technological hiccups have been dealt with and on we go…. . back in the fall I spent some time around Bloor and Spadina and this is the result.

below: On the SE corner of Spadina and Bloor are these supersized Dominoes. It’s rather silly but I like the juxtaposition of Dominoes and Pizza Pizza. This is also part of Matt Cohen Park.

below: The hoardings went up around Honest Eds late in October. By the time you read this, most (if not all) of the building will be gone.

below: Jimi Hendrix Sculpture Garden includes the bronze sculpture “People helping People” 1990, by Al Green. The sculpture also appears on the property of an apartment complex in Davisville – the connection being that the two properties were developed by the same family company (the Green family as it turns out). The garden also includes two bas-relief sculptures on the wall. These are reproductions of some of the decorative facades of the Victorian houses (1890’s) that used to be on this site until they were torn down in 2004.

below: What the well dressed mummy was wearing this fall season.

below: There is not a lot of street art as you get closer to Spadina (there is more closer to Bathurst). This garage door is one of the few pieces.

below: Poster for the YCL (Young Communist League) of Canada.

below: The Ten Editions books store which sits on University of Toronto property. There is some debate/discussion going on at the moment re the development of this site. Ten Editions has been there since 1984. At that time, the building was 100 years old as it was started its life 1885 as the John James Funstan Grocery Store. The University of Toronto wants to tear it down so they can build a 23 storey residence on the site.

below: On the grounds of Trinity St. Paul Church is a sign that marks the spot of another garden. This one is the Heart Garden and it is there to honour the children who were lost in or survived the residential school system. “May we be part of a future of reconciliation and justice”. It is designed in the shape of an Indigenous Medicine Wheel. You can see the four concrete ‘paths’ that divide the wheel into four sections. I have never noticed this garden before and it is unfortunate that the first time was late in the autumn when nothing was growing. I will come back in the spring and/or summer to take a closer look. Apparently it is part of a project, just one of many heart gardens across the country.

below: Walmer Road street sign. Most of these green Annex signs have faded over time and it is rare now to find one in good shape like this one.

As I type this, there is still snow falling from the sky, the tail end (I hope!) of the latest snow fall. .. so you can expect some snowier pictures in the near future!

A small collection of a few of the things that I’ve noticed over the past while.
Pictures of little things that haven’t found a home yet.

below: It’s not two people each riding an old fashioned bike even though that’s probably the first thing that you think of when you see it. It’s one bike with two wheels and two riders going in different directions. Going nowhere probably. Seen in the front window of Tandem Coffee on King Street East.

below: Don’t just peer out the window, get outside and be a part of the world. There’s so much to be seen!

below: Love letter to a bike.

below: The mannequins on the balcony in Kensington are now gold!

below: I’ve seen a couple of these images now. This one is a paste-up on a black metal box near Bloor & Borden. I’ve also seen another painted on hoardings around a construction site, possibly on Bathurst Street. There was a similar image on the wall of Honest Ed’s but this one has a bit more detail in it, especially the hair.

below: A small sticker, slightly creepy, almost as if the poor girl is being stalked.

below: An old clock hiding under a newer sign, forgotten. Stopped long ago.

below: It looks like Mary’s been discounted.

below: Always good advice! Painted in pink on a window that catches the afternoon sun and makes interesting shadows on the blind behind.

below: Take one ball, a stool, and paint and add some imagination – a unique garden ornament to brighten the day of passers by.

below: Decorative tiles on the front of a brick building on Yonge Street (two photos).

below: I wonder what the T stands for?

below: Keep your eyes open and you’ll be surprised too!

Today I’m going to end with the photo below. To me it encapsulates the idea that photographers can be a weird bunch. Somewhere out there someone has a close up photo of these pipes and dials. It’s probably a great picture! …. because if they hadn’t been there, I may have taken the same picture. Instead I took a picture of the photographer in action. Never stop seeing.

Once again, the last Sunday of the month was Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market. There was a large turnout this past weekend! Lots of people, music, food, sunshine, and good times.

below: Dancing in the steet

below: A song, a mandolin, and a Polish Boy Scout belt buckle?

below: She is showing lots of courage!

below: A quiet corner for a good book

below: Numbers on the alley by #whatsvictorupto

below: Drinks – the changing nature of Kensington market is reflected in the food and drink that is available. There is now a large South American influence in the area so products like Inca Cola and Chicha can be bought.

below: A poser bunny still lurks in an alley. Everything around him as changed be he remains.